Not Applicable
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the lowering and control of the temperature of the human body. More particularly, the invention relates to a method and intravascular apparatus for cooling the whole body, especially during periods of fever.
2. Background Information
Organs in the human body, such as the brain, kidney and heart, are maintained at a constant temperature of approximately 37xc2x0 C. Hypothermia can be clinically defined as a core body temperature of 35xc2x0 C. or less. Hypothermia is sometimes characterized further according to its severity. A body core temperature in the range of 33xc2x0 C. to 35xc2x0 C. is described as mild hypothermia. A body temperature of 28xc2x0 C. to 32xc2x0 C. is described as moderate hypothermia. A body core temperature in the range of 24xc2x0 C. to 28xc2x0 C. is described as severe hypothermia.
Hypothermia is uniquely effective in reducing brain injury caused by a variety of neurological insults and may eventually play an important role in emergency brain resuscitation. Experimental evidence has demonstrated that cerebral cooling improves outcome after global ischemia, focal ischemia, or traumatic brain injury. For this reason, hypothermia may be induced in order to reduce the effect of certain bodily injuries to the brain as well as other organs.
Cerebral hypothermia has traditionally been accomplished through whole body cooling to create a condition of total body hypothermia in the range of 20xc2x0 C. to 30xc2x0 C. The currently-employed techniques and devices used to cause total body hypothermia lead to various side effects. In addition to the undesirable side effects, present methods of administering total body hypothermia are cumbersome.
Catheters have been developed which are inserted into the bloodstream of the patient in order to induce total body hypothermia. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,425,419 to Dato describes a method and apparatus of lowering and raising the temperature of the human body. Dato induces moderate hypothermia in a patient using a rigid metallic catheter. The catheter has an inner passageway through which a fluid, such as water, can be circulated. The catheter is inserted through the femoral vein and then through the inferior vena cava as far as the right atrium and the superior vena cava. The Dato catheter has an elongated cylindrical shape and is constructed from stainless steel. By way of example, Dato suggests the use of a catheter approximately 70 cm in length and approximately 6 mm in diameter. Thus, the Dato device cools along the length of a very elongated device. Use of the Dato device is highly cumbersome due to its size and lack of flexibility.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,837,003 to Ginsburg also discloses a method and apparatus for controlling a patient""s body temperature. In this technique, a flexible catheter is inserted into the femoral artery or vein or the jugular vein. The catheter may be in the form of a balloon to allow an enhanced surface area for heat transfer. A thermally conductive metal foil may be used as part of a heat-absorbing surface. This device fails to disclose or teach use of any ability to enhance heat transfer. In addition, the disclosed device fails to disclose temperature regulation.
An ailment particular susceptible to treatment by cooling, either selective or whole body, is fever or hyperthermia. There is a growing awareness of the dangers associated with fever. Many patients, especially after surgery and/or in the intensive care unit, suffer from fever. For example, it is estimated that 90% of patients in neurointensive care units suffering from sub-arachnoid hemorrhage have a fever. Further, 60% of patients in neurointensive care units suffering from intra-cranial hemorrhage have a fever. 80% of patients in neurointensive care units suffering from traumatic brain injury have a fever. These patients are typically treated with Tylenol, cooling blankets, or other such methods. These methods are not believed to be very effective; moreover, they are difficult to control.
Therefore, a practical method and apparatus that lowers and controls the temperature of the human body satisfies a long-felt need.
In one aspect, the apparatus of the present invention can include a heat transfer element that can be used to apply cooling to the blood flowing in a large vein feeding the heart.
The heat transfer element, by way of example only, includes first and second elongated, articulated segments, each segment having a mixing-inducing exterior surface. A flexible joint can connect the first and second elongated segments. An inner lumen may be disposed within the first and second elongated segments and is capable of transporting a pressurized working fluid to a distal end of the first elongated segment. In addition, the first and second elongated segments may have a mixing-inducing interior surface for inducing mixing within the pressurized working fluid. The mixing-inducing exterior surface may be adapted to induce mixing within a blood flow when placed within an artery or vein. In one embodiment, the flexible joint includes a bellows section that also allows for axial compression of the heat transfer element as well as for enhanced flexibility. In alternative embodiments, the bellows section may be replaced with flexible tubing such as small cylindrical polymer connecting tubes.
In one embodiment, the mixing-inducing exterior surfaces of the heat transfer element include one or more helical grooves and ridges. Adjacent segments of the heat transfer element can be oppositely spiraled to increase mixing. For instance, the first elongated heat transfer segment may include one or more helical ridges having a counter-clockwise twist, while the second elongated heat transfer segment includes one or more helical ridges having a clockwise twist. Alternatively, of course, the first elongated heat transfer segment may include one or more clockwise helical ridges, and the second elongated heat transfer segment may include one or more counter-clockwise helical ridges. The first and second elongated, articulated segments may be formed from highly conductive materials such as metals, thin polymers, or doped polymers.
The heat transfer device may also have a supply catheter with an inner catheter lumen coupled to the inner lumen within the first and second elongated heat transfer segments. A working fluid supply configured to dispense the pressurized working fluid may be coupled to the inner catheter lumen or alternatively to the supply catheter. The working fluid supply may be configured to produce the pressurized working fluid at a temperature of about 0xc2x0 C. and at a pressure below about 5 atmospheres of pressure.
In yet another alternative embodiment, the heat transfer device may have three or more elongated, articulated, heat transfer segments each having a mixing-inducing exterior surface, with additional flexible joints connecting the additional elongated heat transfer segments. In one such embodiment, by way of example only, the first and third elongated heat transfer segments may include clockwise helical ridges, and the second elongated heat transfer segment may include one or more counter-clockwise helical ridges. Alternatively, of course, the first and third elongated heat transfer segments may include counter-clockwise helical ridges, and the second elongated heat transfer segment may include one or more clockwise helical ridges.
The mixing-inducing exterior surface of the heat transfer element may optionally include a surface coating or treatment to inhibit clot formation. A surface coating may also be used to provide a degree of lubricity to the heat transfer element and its associated catheter.
The present invention is also directed to a method of treating fever in the body by inserting a flexible cooling element into a vein that is in pressure communication with the heart, e.g., the femoral or iliac veins, the superior or inferior vena cavae or both. The vena cavae may be accessed via known techniques from the jugular vein or from the subclavian or femoral veins, for example. The heat transfer element in one or both vena cavae may then cool virtually all the blood being returned to the heart. The cooled blood enters the right atrium at which point the same is pumped through the right ventricle and into the pulmonary artery to the lungs where the same is oxygenated. Due to the heat capacity of the lungs, the blood does not appreciably warm during oxygenation. The cooled blood is returned to the heart and pumped to the entire body via the aorta. Thus, cooled blood may be delivered indirectly to a chosen organ such as the brain. This indirect cooling is especially effective as high blood flow organs such as the heart and brain are preferentially supplied blood by the vasculature.
A warming blanket or other warming device may be applied to portions of the body to provide comfort to the patient and to inhibit thermoregulatory responses such as vasoconstriction. Thermoregulatory drugs may also be so provided for this reason.
The method further includes circulating a working fluid through the flexible, conductive cooling element in order to lower the temperature of the blood in the vena cava. The flexible, conductive heat transfer element preferably absorbs more than about 100 or 300 Watts of heat.
The method may also include inducing mixing within the free stream blood flow within the vena cava. It is noted that a degree of turbulence or mixing is generally present within the vena cava anyway. The step of circulating may include inducing mixing in the flow of the working fluid through the flexible heat transfer element. The pressure of the working fluid may be maintained below about 5 atmospheres of pressure.
The present invention also envisions a method for lowering a fever in the body of a patient which includes introducing a catheter, with a cooling element, into a vena cava supplying the heart, the catheter having a diameter of about 18 mm or less, inducing mixing in blood flowing over the cooling element, and lowering the temperature of the cooling element to remove heat from the blood to cool the blood. In one embodiment, the cooling step removes at least about 50 Watts of heat from the blood. The mixing induced may result in a Nusselt number enhancement of the flow of between about 5 and 80.
Advantages of the invention are numerous. Patients can be provided with an efficient method of reducing fever that does not suffer from the deleterious consequences of the prior art. The procedure can be administered safely and easily. Numerous cardiac and neural settings can benefit by the hypothermic therapy. Other advantages will be understood from the following.
The novel features of this invention, as well as the invention itself, will be best understood from the attached drawings, taken along with the following description, in which similar reference characters refer to similar parts, and in which: